A Straight Forward Boy

A Straight Forward Boy (Tokkan Kozo)

Japan, 1929, 14 minutes, black and white, silent film

Directed by Yasujiro Ozu

March 19, 2005
Theatre Off Jackson
Seattle, Washington

October 8 – 10, 2004
Broadway Performance Hall

A Straight Forward Boy is a comedic tale of an incorrigible young mischief-maker abducted by kidnappers who end up regretting their decision. Tomio Aoki, as the boy, became so popular he took the film's Japanese title Tokkan Kozo ("a boy who charges into you") as his stage name and went on to co-star in a number of other films.

I Graduated, But … (Daigaku wa deta keredo)

Japan, 1929, 11 minutes, silent film

Directed by Yasujiro Ozu

October 8 – 10, 2004
Broadway Performance Hall

I Graduated, But … is one of Ozu's early melodramas with a socially-conscious edge. The title is from a popular saying of the time – a rueful joke on the false promise of higher education in a time when over two-thirds of university graduates could not find work. The protagonist Nomoto is jobless but pretends to be successful for his visiting mother and his fiancee Machiko. After his mother leaves, the now married couple struggles over finances and who will be the bread-winner.

AJE performed these two films one after the other, with a brief pause to set up instruments. Below is Susie Kozawa's setup for this performance.

Musicians
William Satake Blauvelt	Taiko, snare drum, gongs, cymbals, xylimba, lu sheng, waterphone, found metal objects, sound toys, percussion
Susie Kozawa	Bell wheel, prepared autoharp, kelp horn, khaen, sound toys and objects
Yoko Murao	Sound toys, percussion, vocal, khaen, frame drums, wash tub bass
Michael Shannon	Erhu, dilruba, chin-chin, guitar, sanshin, rhiata, zurna, beene, harmonica, suruti box, tremelo, kanjira, percussion
Stan Shikuma, guest artist	Taiko, tympani, xylimba, Indonesian slit drums, khaen, percussion
Esther Sugai	Flutes, melodica, kelp horns, khaen, harmonica, xylimba, percussion
Marcia Takamura	Koto, prepared koto, shamisen, khaen, percussion